Starhawk to tour the US in February and March 2016

Posted Thursday October 15th 2015 by Jen Angel

Starhawk will be touring the US with her new book, City of Refuge, the sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing during February and March 2016!

Is it possible, in these times of social and environmental meltdown, to envision a positive future? Popular culture abounds with post-Apocalyptic disaster stories, but offers us few images of a positive outcome of the human story here on earth. Yet if we can’t even imagine a just, balanced, and flourishing future, how can we create it?

Starhawk’s work is an exception. In her now-classic novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and her new sequel, City ofRefuge, she brings alive a culture where human creativity and diversity are cherished, where tyranny and eco-disasters threaten, but where people come together to create a society where the elements that sustain life--earth, air, fire and water—are sacred, where human needs are provided for and human diversity is truly valued.

Starhawk draws on decades of experience as an activist, as a leader in the earth-based spirituality movement, and as a practitioner and teacher of permaculture to explore how we change the direction our society is heading in. Permaculture offers an integrated design system and solutions that can help us mitigate the climate crisis and regenerate ecosystems on a large scale. Yet to do so, we must also challenge the intersections of racism, sexism, economic inequality, and violence that support exploitation and destruction. “Only justice can assure balance…only in balance can that fifth sacred thing we call spirit flourish in its full diversity.

Stories can move us, inspire us, and challenge us. Starhawk challenges us to mobilize our creativity and courage and engage in the great adventure of our times—re-envisioning our culture and reclaiming our world.

City of Refugebegins just a few weeks after Califia has successfully defeated the invading Stewards’ forces from the Southlands. As the Califians replant their garden streets and rebuild their beautiful city, they struggle to integrate the soldiers who have defected to the north. When a warship is discovered off the coast, the Califians realize that their peaceable society will never be truly safe until the Southlands are also free.

Bird, the musician turned guerilla, deeply wounded from years of battles, prison and torture, has put his faith in a power different from the gun and the bomb. Yet he longs to go back and fight.

Madrone, the healer, has gained tremendous power from her initiation by the Melissas, the bee priestesses, yet how can even she heal a whole society? How do you build a new world when people are so deeply damaged by the old?

And River, the former soldier Ohnine, who defected to the North and turned the tide of the final battle, struggles to become a real person, not just a tool of the army breeders.

Bird’s grandmother, Maya, ancient storyteller, nears the end of her life. “Tell the story, sing the song,” she tells Bird.

And then Madrone has a dream...

Build a city of refuge in the heartland of the enemy…

Together, Madrone and Bird head to Angel City to establish an enclave that can inspire the Southlanders to rise up and liberate themselves. They are joined by reformed soldier River and bitter former sex-slave Smokee who lead an Army of Liberation down through the Central valley, while pirate Isis and her lover Sara bring a ragtag navy down the coast.

City of Refugefollows the struggles, the sacrifices, and the victories of the peaceful warriors from Califa as they endeavor to construct a haven in the parched and war-torn Southlands. Can magic, healing and love overcome the violence of a cruel and despotic regime?

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and one of the most respected voices in modern Goddess religion and earth-based spirituality. She is the author or coauthor of thirteen books, including the classics The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Her latest is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, and forthcoming in the winter of 2015 is City of Refuge, the long-awaited sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing.

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